Exercise is an absolute! We were not meant to sit at a desk, on our couch, or in a car most of the day. Exercise is something everyone needs to do to maintain health. The benefits of exercise and a healthy lifestyle are enormous! Exercise helps to:

• Increase your metabolism
• Accelerate weight loss
• Tone and shape your body
• Balance hormones
• Increase energy and vitality
• Reduce this risk of illness and disease
• Slow down the aging process

The good news is that exercise doesn’t have to take hours to be beneficial! In fact, less may be more. Science continues to confirm that short, high-intensity burst workouts result in greater fat burning, greater development of lean body mass, and many more benefits. On the contrary, it has been proven that long, time-consuming cardio routines can actually sabotage your health and weight loss efforts.

Long aerobic or cardio workouts that last over 30 minutes, overexercising, and spending hours in the gym each week with no results may cause muscle to continually break down rather than build up. This leads to more injuries and illnesses (colds, etc.) because your immune system can be weakened. When you over-exercise, cortisol (the stress hormone) is released, causing the body to store fat instead of build muscle.

The benefits of shorter, high-intensity exercises:

• Engages the use of all muscle fibers, even groups of muscles you cannot reach through cardio or aerobic workouts.
• Boosts the hormone that helps burn fat and build muscle.
• Requires only a 10-minute time investment. In fact, two 10-minute workouts are more beneficial than 30 minutes or 1 hour of a cardio workout.

The bottom line: GOLO wants you to try to incorporate smart, efficient exercise that affords you the most benefit.

GOLO wants you to succeed! Any activity that you enjoy and keeps you moving is great and you should keep doing it. The possibilities are endless. Think outside the box and add variety to your routine to keep you from getting bored. Exercise ideas include:

• Put some music on and DANCE! Invite your kids and spouse to join you.
• Join a club with your favorite activity like hiking, golf, cycling, or tennis.
• Combine playtime and exercise. Try kickball, basketball, or kick around a soccer ball.
• Try yoga, stretching, or a tai chi class to help you gain flexibility and movement.
• Find activities you enjoy doing and will continue with consistently. Exercise should be fun, not a chore.